newbuilder101

Another small update.....
 
New additions include the vertical strips of wood on the hull mid-ship. I'm not sure of the name or function of these timbers, but I'm wondering if they could be for protection of the hull when the lowering of the ship's boats? 
 
Also added are more ornamentation pieces, such as the eagles and the piece at the top of the gallery door.
Now to make these same pieces for the port side.
 

 

 

Another small update.....
 
New additions include the vertical strips of wood on the hull mid-ship. I'm not sure of the name or function of these timbers, but I'm wondering if they could be for protection of the hull when the lowering of the ship's boats? 
 
Also added are more ornamentation pieces, such as the eagles and the piece at the top of the gallery door.
Now to make these same pieces for the port side.
 

 

 

Have to give you credit young lady.  Your learning curve looks like Mt. Everest while mine mimics the Great Plains.  Love to see where you wind up with the resin castings.

Sherry,
 
I have never had much success with casting resin on a small scale, but have cast thousands of miniature figures in metal using epoxy molded patterns.
 
You have not shown a picture of your mold, but I assume you have included vent passages from the bottom of the molded part up and out the top. These are essential to get the air out of the mold and allow the resin to get in. You should not need a big hole if the mold is vented. If you have already made the mold and need to add vents, you can cut them with a knife or a carving gouge. Even with vents you may have bubbles especially with resin. If so, try tapping themold after pouring to work the bubbles out. You can do the same when you pour the RTV to make the mold if you are having bubble problems in the mold rubber.
 
I use a vacuum degassing chamber to remove air from the rubber and a centrifigal molding machine to get the mold filled and any air out, but miniature figures have deep and complex undercuts. Obviously you do not want to go that far to cast a few guns. Guns are fairly simple.
 
I would recommend the low-temperature alloy route suggested by hexnut. The weight of the metal helps drive the bubbles out. If you use metal you may want to dust the mold with talc before pouring. This will help with degassing. I assume you are only using the vaseline solution to coat he pattern when making the mold. I would not use it when casting regardless of the material.
 
Hope this is useful.
 
Ed

Hey Sherry...I saw your posting regarding the results or lack of so far in casting the cannons.
 
For this size casting I definitely would be painting the resin on both sides of the mould, (if you made your mould properly, you should have a fairly good size reservoir to use) Why?
 
Once you have painted both sides of the mould with resin, and "slap" the 2 parts together, in your case I would stand the mould vertically and pour some leftover resin in the reservoir and squeeze the mould halves together like you are giving it CPR, squeezing the air out and drawing the resin into the mould, pumping it vigorously. This is if you do not degas the resin with a vacuum chamber or vibration.
 
This usually works very well...messy?...can be!
 
How many barrels do you have in your mould? If you have several, this comes in handy in that you may have 4 in the mould and each casting get 1 to 2 that are perfect...still better than carving each....as you do more of this you will find little tricks that make it work better each time.
 
How long do you have for setup time before the resin starts to turn solid? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?
 
Steve

If you prefer metal, there are low-temp tin-bismuth alloys that work with silicone molds:
http://www.micromark.com/casting-metal-type-280-75-ozand135-cubic-inch,8331.html
I haven't done this in a while, but as I recall, they flow nicely, just add some wires and cones to your master for pour and vent areas.
 
As Druxey mentioned, Micromark also sells resin and various casting media.

Okay, I think I'm ready to fire my cannons.......................out the window that is!
 
I have tried casting with mixed results, none of which has yielded the end product that I deem acceptable for mass production! I have come to the conclusion that the biggest challenge has been casting at such a small scale - 1/96. These things are tiny! The problem arises in trying to pour/force the resin into the 2 part mold. Because the scale is so small, the pour hole has to be kept relatively small as well, and thus the problem. Just out of frustration, I tried filling the cavity in each half mold and then "slapping" them together.....believe it or not, this gave the best results, but still not exactly what I want. I will try to post a pic of the trials later. The diluted Vaseline worked quite well as a release agent and sticking was never an issue. 
 
For the curious, I used polyester casting resin and RTV rubber molds.
 
I may keep experimenting, or try something totally different - I am DETERMINED to make these things myself!

Looking good Sjors! I don't know about Merlin, but it looks like you've been busy and managed to get a lot done on your own! 

WONDERFUL! Love the detail and clean workmanship!

Hey all! I have started to plan for the next steps.
 
One thing was deciding the look of the deadeyes. This is the look I want: Heartshaped and quite wonky and irregular in shape.
 

 
I ended up just sanding the round ones in the kit to imitate that shape. I also tried to make the metal parts holding some of them, the kit suggests rope on these ones also, but I want metal ones.
 
This is how far I am doing a test version:
 

 

 
 
/Matti
 
 
 

Have been busy making hatches, coamings and gratings for the gun deck.  These are all permanently fixed to the false deck and will be planked around.  I used simple lap joints for the corners.  The gratings were supplied laser cut.  The hatch with the pull rings used eyebolts and separate rings made from fine black annealed wire.
 

 
The corners were slightly rounded above planking level.  All are basswood and were stained with diluted Golden Oak.  The bottoms were sanded lightly to match the curvature of the false deck.
 

 
The treenailed platform behind the aftmost grating is for the capstan.
 

 
Just behind the foremast hole you'll see the coaming for the stove's platform.  This has not been set permanently on the deck as we now need to create a 'bricked platform' .  We'll take a closer look at this later on (after I figure out how to do it) .
 
Hope everyone is well and prepared to have some grog to celebrate the coming solstice
 
 
 
 

Hi guys, 
 
Here's a new carving sub project I started. For the fun of it I keep track of the process here's the first set of pictures:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
More later,
 
Best,
Michiel

Ship's Boats continued:
 
Not a lot of time in the shipyard this weekend, but a little progress to report.  I've been working on the gratings for the Pinnace.  These are made from 1/32" x1/32" Boxwood stock that Jeff Hayes (Hobbymill) very kindly milled for me with notches, so that task was made a lot easier (thanks Jeff ).  The gratings are quite a tricky shape, especially the stern grating.  They are framed in in Pear wood of the same dimensions.  I also made up a small bow deck, that will go in front of the foremost thwart.  This was made from the same stock as the footwaling. 
 
I've also been furthering my quest for improved photography....
 
Here's a few pics of the parts:
 

 
And here's the "fingernail shot" to show the size of the bow grating:
 

 
This shows the two gratings loosely in place, with the monster hand for overall scale:
 

 
And here's an overall shot with all parts in place:
 

 
I've also prepared the stock for the thwarts.  These will be made from Pear wood trimmed with Boxwood (the opposite colour combo to the gratings), much the same as I did with the Launch.  However, I decided that I'd better paint the exterior of the hull before moving on to fitting out the interior any further.  At this stage, I've just applied a coat of white Gesso as an undercoat.  I've gotta say, I've become a big fan of this stuff - it makes subsequent coats of paint go on a whole lot easier.  More pics once painting is complete - hopefully by next weekend.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 70 – Waterways
 
In the last post I mentioned the bolt density on the outside of the frames.  This can be seen in the first picture.
 

 
The nails are part of the clamps being used to secure a section of waterway inside for gluing.  The pins are markers for some of the through bolt holes drilled for this section.  There will be more – one in each frame pair.  The lower deck hanging knee bolts have not yet been installed.  These will be dummy bolts only and dummy bolts will only be installed where the frames will be left exposed – lower hull on this side.  It was not practical to drill for through knee bolts.  All of the bolts for the ironwork lattice have been installed on this side plus of course many others for the members installed earlier.
 
The next picture shows the aft starboard section of waterway being fitted.
 

 
The outboard face has to be beveled to fit against the frames.  The next picture shows a copper wire bolt for this piece being clipped on the outside.
 

 
I had a bit of rework to do on the main deck clamps aft of midship.  For some reason – perhaps I neglected to plumb the hull before marking some of them – their fairness was off on both sides.  I saw this on one of those deck-level camera shots.  Since they were bolted on, removing them was a chore, but the new clamps are much better.
 

 
In this picture a batten has been clamped to the side under the deck clamp to help keep the sections aligned at the scarph joints where it is easy to get a kink in the line.
 
Although the main deck does not extend aft of frame 36, I decided to extend the deck clamps right through the cabin, joining it to a half-hook at the stern.  The half-hook on the starboard side is shown in the next picture.
 

 
This hook is interrupted by the sternpost.  Its wide breadth is dictated by the bevel required to fit on to the frames.  There will be a deck full-width hook for the cabin deck about 4 feet below this – just at the top of the inner post.  The cabin deck is a sort of mezzanine between the middle deck and the main deck.
 
The last picture shows the first section of 12” x 10” standing strake installed atop the he forward waterway.
 

 
The second section is clamped and glued in this picture.  This strake has vertical hook scarphs.
 
 
 Ed

Hi everyone,
 
As I started working on the upper deck clamps, I was quickly reminded that I had no way to clamp the clamps. My hull is solid and offers no places to clamp except through the gunports. And that does not help at the bow.
 
So, inspired by Ed T, I built some long reach clamps. Just for fun, I used up some old padouk left over from my workbench, with maple handles.
I was stumped for a bit by how to turn down the end of the threaded rod for a smooth engagement into a blind hole for the top screw. In the end, I just wrapped the rod in masking tape and clamped it in the three jaw chuck. It held firm enough for this light machining, and did not hurt the threads.
 
I will have to work out some specially shaped pads at the end of the clamps, to deal with the angle of the wales and the curve of the bow. But I'll deal with that later, using double sided tape to affix temporary pads.
 
Thanks, Ed, you inspired me to make what I am sure will be very useful tools as I start planking the upper works.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hey all! Finally things are going less hectic and I had a little time to build. The masts except the bowsprit are positioned and I made the bowsprit mast.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
/Matti

More beautiful rigging - a delight to see! Congratulations on 40 years! I heard that Sjors is celebrating the 36th anniversary of his 29th birthday.

..... continued.
 
The aft end of the rail finishes in a Knighthead :
 

 
Moldings are cut and scraped into the outboard faces :
 

 
A Planksheer is fitted to the top of the rail to give it protection from the elements and also add a bit of strength. The whole unit is extremely strong, due to it's design :
 

 
The rails fitted to the ship. They need to be carefully placed to ensure they are vertical :
 

 

 

 
No finish has been applied to any of the headworks yet - I'll do that when all parts have been fitted.
 
  Danny

Thanks for the nice comments John .
 
Main Rails
 
These are quite complicated to make, and the whole Head depends on their accuracy. Each rail is made from 9 smaller sections which are scarfed together. There are two identically shaped parts, only the scarf joints are at different points so as to overlap each other :
 

 

 

 

 

 
One rail after sanding down. Note the taper for the full length of it in the last pic :
 

 

 
Continued in next post .....

If we look forward, the next exposition will be this autumn . This morning  was the press conference and I tried a presentation for the occasion.
I will rework the name card later.

Well, lets put it this way, David.  Its not going to come apart.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 69 – Final lower deck framing/
Waterways
 
In the first picture the last ledge of the lower deck framing is being marked for cutting.
 

 
Once all of the beams and carlings were set, the remaining ledges went quickly – a morning’s work.  These are 9” wide and 7” deep – hard pine on the original like the rest of the deck framing – except for the hanging knees – white or live oak.
 
The next picture shows the completed framing – looking aft.
 

 
Sometimes it is hard to decide from which direction these pictures were taken.  The fore and aft ends of this deck are very similar.  The next picture shows the area around the main hatch and main mast.
 

 
At this stage the deck members – beams, carlings, ledges – have been sanded flat and finish sanded.  All traces of the bolt glue are gone.  Below is a picture taken above the foremast area.
 

 
No time to celebrate - on to the waterways.  These monsters are 15” square – hard pine on the original – as long a log as possible.  The first picture shows the foremost section on the starboard side.
 

 
The outboard face has to be beveled back to fit tight against the frames and flat on the deck beams.  There is a slight gap between the waterway and the tops of the lodging kneses.  This was discussed earlier.  The next picture shows a closer view..
 

 
In this picture the section has been glued in and clamped.  As many copper wire bolts as the interference with the clamps would allow were then inserted and epoxy-glued from both ends.  When the clamps are removed the remaining bolts will be installed down into the beams and through the frames.  The hook scarph connecting this piece to the next section was fit before installing the forward piece.  I wish I had made this piece longer to get the joint into a straighter area.  It was hard to close on the curve.  The next picture shows a wire beam bolt being inserted in the next section.
 

 
The pin coming through in the lower left corner is a marker for the hole drilled from the outside so I can find it to fill it with a bolt.  The outsides of the frames are becoming “bolt-dense.”  The air gaps above the lodging knees between the beams and ledges show clearly in this picture.
 
The last picture shows the second section of waterway after filing off the bolt heads and epoxy.
 

 
The waterway has been sanded smooth.  A 12” wide by 10” deep “standing strake” will be installed along the top of the waterway.  A thick “binding strake” – the outer strake of planking will butt against the side of the waterway and bolted horizontally through it as well as into the deck beams. I believe a “margin plank” was installed inboard of the binding strake, but I am still researching this.
 
 
 Ed

More beautiful rigging - a delight to see! Congratulations on 40 years! I heard that Sjors is celebrating the 36th anniversary of his 29th birthday.

Where is that DON'T LIKE button !!!!!!!
I need it and I need it NOW !!!!!!!
 
I'm gonna be 38.......
So please followers of Mobbsie's build log, DON"T believe him .
 
Very nice rigging work my friend and I will help you with making good pictures !
 

Hi Guys,
 
Denis
 
I have a Samsung Digimax L60 if that means anything but to be honest I get better results from my iPhone.
 
To answer your questions mate, the work on the loft has largely been completed although there is always little bits and pieces that need doing, it's not pretty but it's functional, I have lighting, mains power, and ventilation but I still have open beams, rough concrete block walls and cobwebs, thousands of cobwebs.
 
Anja and Sjors are definitely visiting very soon, in fact they arrive here on the 27th of this month, I'll pick them up from the port at 06:45 for a 2 week stay. First week we are going of to the Lake District and then it's back home for the second week, we will be celebrating Sjors 65th birthday and my Admirals and my 40th wedding anniversary. You better believe there will be pictures, lots of pictures, you never know I may even be in some of them, now that really is something to look forward to.
 
As far as the Aggie is concerned I'm just getting back into the swing of this after the refurbs, I am going to post an update with this and so I'll go into what I have done since getting back into it.
 
All the ratlines are now complete, the Mizzen, Main and Fore Mast Topgallant Shrouds are fitted and tied off, Shroud cleats are all fitted, Bowsprit Shrouds have the deadeyes tied and have been tied off and the Bowsprit Bobstays are all tied off and finally the Figurehead has been fixed on.
 
The ratlines gave me the biggest headache, I had the ship on a very low stool and I was still working at shoulder height, arms felt like lead by the time I was finished for each day, because of this they took longer than I would have liked.
 
Another part that I found awkward was tying off the Topgallant Shrouds to the platform deadeyes, whilst In the process of doing them I bashed the Mizzen Topgallant on one of my shelves which didn't do it a lot of good but I was able to repair the damage thankfully.
 
So some pictures of where I'm at.
 
First off the ratlines and topgallant shrouds
 
   
 
   
 
Next up Figurehead, Bowsprit Shrouds and Bowsprit Bobstays
 
   
 
   
 

 
So there we have it, your as up to date as I am.
 
My next task will be the Topmast Stays and the Topgallant Stays, I still have to do the backstays but I'm leaving them as long as possible so I have more access inside, at least that's the theory.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie